Dr. Avonia Richardson-Miller

And it's where I learned that music could be a form of testimony.

So songs like Marvin Sapp's Never Would Have Made It or Travis Green's

made a way, resonate deeply with me because they are powerful stories of resilience and gratitude.

So while gospel was the music of my spirit, the music of my home was pure soul.

So my dad was constantly playing the greats of R&B and Motown, artists like Otis Redding, The Temptations, Al Green, Aretha Franklin, and Marvin Gaye.

Those were the soundtracks of my childhood.

And that's where I got my education in soul.

It's why I have such a deep connection to the storytelling in Teddy Pendergrass and the passion in Barry White's music.

And a perfect example that bridges all of this in this story is the song, I'm Every Woman.

So many people don't know that the teenage Whitney Houston actually sang background vocals on Shoka Khan's original 1978 funk classic.

Then over a decade later, at the absolute peak of Whitney's global fame, she recorded a version on her Bodyguard soundtrack.

And it became as what I'd like to call the iconic cover because she didn't just re-sing it.

She transformed it for a new generation.

and turned it into a 90s pop and R&B powerhouse.

Her version became the anthem in its own right.

But what makes it so special is the respect that she showed.

At the end of that soundtrack, she does this famous ad-lib shout-out, Shaka Khan.

It was a beautiful full circle moment, almost a public passing of the torch from one legend to another, honoring the original while creating something new and completely unforgettable.

And this brings me to the part of my playlist that might seem like a plot twist, but is actually a homecoming for my love for country music.

And that's because half of my childhood, I was raised on a farm in North Carolina.